hackDELETION
by Tiro1000
Summary: ((3 years after the games))
1. Prologue

_**"I never think of the future. It comes soon enough."**_

_**--Albert Einstein**_

The not-too-distant future…

Spectre' sighed to himself. This conversation was beginning to annoy him, "Zett, I don't see why you are worried about this, I mean, what's the worst that can happen?"

Zett looked down, 'Famous last words' he thought. "All I'm saying is, that as administrators, we have the ability, the duty, to prevent this."

"But why? I mean, it's only a program, what can happen?" Spectre' had the cocky look on his face.

Unlike Spectre', Zett was being serious, "Don't you remember what happened six years ago? People were hurt because of arrogance like yours."

"Is that what this is about? So what? Some hacker made a program for us, its not like people are going to get killed because of it."

Zett looked down again, shaking his head slowly, "I honestly don't think this program is the work of a hacker."

"What makes you think that?"

"Well, doesn't this seem kind of conspicuous? I mean, a program to combine all of the areas in 'The World.' I don't think a hacker could make something like that? Not even The Angel could pull that off."

Spectre' finally got serious, "Hold on, are you suggesting that the system is infected again, and this is a side effect?"

"We shouldn't discount it as a possibility."

"Come on Zett, if anything happens, I'll take full responsibility."

He sighed, "Are you really?"

**.hack/DELETION**

A FanFiction Based on the .hack Universe.

Story by Tim Meier and Matt Burrell

Character Designs by Katy Robles

Edited by Matt Burrell 

Written by Tim Meier


	2. hackCREATION

**.hack/DELETION**

A .hack fanfic by Timothy Meier 

**Story by Tim Meier and Matt Burrell**

Character Designs by Katy Robles Edited by Matt Burrell 

**Written by Tim Meier**

**Disclaimer: I do not own .hack, or any of it's characters, however, I do own this fanfic, so please don't steal it from me, thank you**

**Chapter One**

**.hack/CREATION**

Tiro stumbled out of the Chaos Gate, dizzy and disoriented. _Is this normal?_ he thought, _Probably, because it's so real_. He was an average looking WaveMaster, wearing a red hooded cloak and a red, jewel studded cap. He brushed his brown hair out of his eyes, showing the green tattoos on his face and his icy blue eyes. _Wow, this looks more realistic than I thought, I can even smell the air_. CC Corp. recently came out with the new goggles that have a scent emulator in them. He looked around at what looked like a town square, with a river flowing through the middle of it. _This must be what Venice looks like_, he thought.

"So this is Delta server," he whispered to himself. He stood there for a moment, looking out at the Root Town in amazement. "Okay now, lets check out the adventure areas."

He walked over to the Chaos Gate, looking at it for a minute. "Uh, how do you work this thing?" He realized he had no idea how to use the Chaos Gate. The WaveMaster figured that he wasn't going to get anywhere by just standing there, so he went out on a limb.

"Gate! Take me to an easy area!" he shouted to the gate, but nothing happened. He stood there, dumbfounded, before he gave up on that idea. He dropped his head in shame, "It's no use…"

A woman's laugh came from behind him, "You must be new to The World."

He lifted his head and chuckled at the voice behind him, "You can tell?"

"Of course I can. You're using the Chaos Gate all wrong." She said, still laughing.

He turned around to see who it was. It was a Twin Blade, a little older than him, maybe 18 or 19 by the looks of it. She had long brown hair and two red lines going up her cheeks. She was a female Twin Blade, but was dressed like a male of the same class. She smiled at him, "I'm Riu, and you are?"

"I'm Tiro, I just started today, but you probably already know that," he chuckled, embarrassed.

She stood there, as if pondering something, then: "I see. Well, what the hell. I have some free time on my hands, and if you want, I can teach you how to play."

"Really! You're willing to do that for me!" His smile widened.

Riu nodded at him, "Yeah, but there it'll cost you."

_Oh no_, he thought, "There is? What is it?"

"Well, I don't have any WaveMasters on my member list, so if I teach you how to play, you have to come with me to areas when I ask you to." She said it as if it would be an inconvenience to him.

He nodded, _well that's not so bad_, "Sure, why not?"

"Okay, it's settled then, from now on, you're my WaveMaster. Now hold out your hand."

"What?" He looked at her, confused.

"You heard me! Hold out your hand!"

"Okay." He hesitated for a second, lifting his arm and holding out his hand.

She put her hand out right above his, and a small light emanated from the spot in between them. "There, we exchanged Member Addresses, now I can call on you any time, through flash-mail."

"Wow, that's pretty cool." He smiled at her, making his first friend in this game.

"Okay, now I'm going to add you to my party, when you see the window ask you if you want to accept, say 'Yes'."

"Alright." A few seconds later, the window flashed before his eyes, asking him if he wanted to join Riu's party. He selected 'Yes', just like she said instructed.

"Cool, now since you're new, I guess you'll want to go to an easy area?"

He nodded to her, "Yes please."

"Okay." She stood in front of the Chaos Gate with her hand out. She paused for a second, before breaking the silence, "Delta, Bursting Passed Over Aqua Field." His vision blurred as they vanished through the gate.

**((Delta, Bursting Passed Over Aqua Field))**

Another moment of dizziness struck Tiro. Riu experienced the same thing, but was more used to it than him. He looked up to see a grassy plain, with a bright blue sky. It looked so calm. There was even a light wind blowing. He looked over at Riu, "May I ask you something?" She looked back at him, "Sure, what is it?"

"What level are you at?" he asked, curious.

"Well, to be honest, I just started with this character a few days ago, but I'm no n00b. My previous account was deleted so I had to start over."

"I see, I would have guessed as much. You're at a low level but you certainly seem to know what you're doing."

"Okay, okay, enough with the ass-kissing, I need to teach you how to play."

He laughed nervously at her bold statement, "All right."

"Okay then. So far it seems you have your movement down, so we'll just skip that and move onto advanced movements. In this version of 'The World' you can apply your real-world skills to your player-character's skill set. So for example, if 'FistFighter' was a class, and the person knew some form of martial arts, than he or she could apply their knowledge to their character's attack style."

Tiro nodded, starting to grasp the concept, "Oh I get it, so any moves you know in the outside world, you can use in the game."

"Exactly, so if I were you, I would go practice some melee moves with a broomstick or something."

"Uhh, yeah sure." He said, not sure he was willing take his commitment to the game that far.

She nodded, "But you should also train with weapons from other classes, because in this version, you can fight using any weapon from any class. For example, if I were to drop my blades, then you could pick them up and fight with them."

"I see, so I'm not limited to the WaveMaster skill set?"

"Well yeah, but odds are that right now you wouldn't be all that great with other weapons, so you should probably stick to your staff."

"Got it. So anyways, let's move on." Tiro said enthusiastically.

"Next is attacking. Seeing how you're a WaveMaster, you probably wont be doing too many physical attacks, so let's focus on how to use magic attacks. Magical attacks Require SP. No SP, and you're S.O.L. In order to attack an enemy, it has to be in your your Line Of Vision, or LOV for short." She paused, then, "Quick! Name off your magic attacks off to me!"

Tiro closed his eyes, listing his current skills, "Gan Zot, Rue Kruz, Vak Rom, Juk Zot, Rai Don, Ani Don, and Data Demolish."

"Wait, wait, wait. Say that last one again!"

"Um, Data Demolish," He said matter-of-factly, "Is something wrong?"

"Nah, it's probably nothing. It's just that I've never heard of that before."

"Neither have I, but hey, what do I know?"

She sighed at him, "Oh well, whatever. Anyways, you seem to have a well-balanced skill list, so let's enter a battle. You do that by approaching one of those portals." She said, pointing to something off in the distance. He looked at where she was pointing, and saw a shimmering gold circle spinning about. Doing as Riu ordered, he approached the portal. "**BATTLE MODE ON**" flashed in big red letters at the top of his field of vision as high-speed techno music started playing out of nowhere. The portal collapsed and in its place stood a small, yet fierce looking goblin.

"Go on. I'll let you take the first kill." Riu said, grinning.

Tiro sighed. _Oh what the hell_, he thought as he sprinted full speed at the monster, staff raised over his head…


	3. hackACTIVATION

**.hack/DELETION**

A .hack fanfic by Timothy Meier 

**Story by Tim Meier and Matt Burrell**

Character Designs by Katy Robles Edited by Matt Burrell 

**Written by Tim Meier**

**Disclaimer: I do not own .hack, or any of it's characters, however, I do own this fanfic, so please don't steal it from me, thank you**

**Chapter Two**

**.hack/ACTIVATION**

"Can we rest a second? All this running is making me tired." Tiro said, wheezing. They had been running ever since they entered the dungeon. Actually, he wasn't doing too bad, considering he just started playing. Riu had let him take all the kills out on the field, but once they entered the dungeon, it was her who dominated in the "kills" department. Her experience truly made itself known here, as she took down nearly every monster in what seemed like a matter of seconds. Her blinding speed got to the point where Tiro could hardly keep up. She looked back at him, seemingly disappointed. "Well I knew that WaveMasters had less stamina then the other classes, but this is just pathetic." The new version of 'The World' had been upgraded to give an increased sense of realism. This included a stamina gauge, but a player would only be forced to walk if it ran out. Tiro looked like an asthmatic that just ran a marathon, he was breathing so hard

_Maybe it's some expansion pack that he's beta testing or something_, She thought, "Okay, we'll rest in that room." Riu said, pointing to an entryway on the east side of the hall.

"Thanks, Riu." He said, still wheezing slightly. They went through the entryway and wound up in a small room with numerous boxes laid out in neat rows. He sighed in relief and took a seat on the closest box, catching his breath. "Geez, I didn't know how much farther I would have been able to go." He said, laughing somewhat, "You're definitely way stronger than I am."

"Can I ask you something?" Riu asked, leaning on the crate next to him.

"Sure, what is it?"

"Where are you from?"

"Well, um…" He stammered, caught off guard by such a straightforward question. "I'm from San Diego. Why do you ask?"

She stretched out her arms, yawning, "Just curious. I want to get to know you. I mean, you are my WaveMaster after all. Chances are that I'll have you in my party a lot, and you know, I think it would be best if I really knew my teammates."

"I see." He paused for a second, "So, how about you?"

"Huh?" It was her turn to be caught off guard.

"Where you from?"

"Well, I live north of you. Up in Oregon." She stretched her arms again. "Hey, isn't CC Corp. headquarters in San Diego?"

"Yeah, I think so." He actually didn't know, but didn't want to appear ignorant in front of his new friend.

"Oh that's cool" She said, suddenly uninterested. "Are you feeling better yet?"

He smiled, "Yes, much better, thank you."

"No problem. This room seems pretty safe, so I suppose I could teach you about Knock Outs, and Deaths."

"Really? Cool." He said, suddenly full of energy.

"Wow, you sure perked up. You don't have them right now, but there are items called Revive and Resurrect. Revive will cure Knock Out, and Resurrect will cure Death. When your HP reaches 0, you'll get knocked out. If you cure someone when they're knocked out, they won't lose any SP. There's also a Knock Out HP gauge. This means that if a monster was to attack me while I'm knocked out, then I will die. When someone is dead, you use a Resurrect. However, when you revive someone from death, their SP will be at 0. So basically, it would be better to revive them while their still alive. Still with me?"

He nodded hesitantly, "It seems complicated when you explain it, but I think I got the idea."

"And what is that supposed to mean?" She said, her voice brimming with anger.

He almost fell off the box, "No no no, that's not what I meant!"

"Then exactly what did you mean?"

"Well, uh, you seem to be giving explanations that aren't exactly in layman's terms, but they are still understandable, I just need to pay more attention."

"Good answer, you need to be careful what you say to the more experienced players."

"Yes maam. Sorry."

"You don't need to apologize now." She said, standing up, "Anyways, we should head for the Gott statue. If I remember correctly, the Steel Blades should be here. Not too powerful, but at least they're better than these Amateur Blades." She stretched her arms again, "Okay, lets go."

They were one room away from the Gott Statue, when they found one last Portal. Riu looked over at Tiro, grinning. "Hey, we have one more portal to go, you want to take this one?"

He bared his teeth mischievously, "Yeah, that would be awesome. I'm thirsty for blood!"

_Oh geez, I've created a monster_, she thought. "Alright, I'll be your backup. If you need any help, don't be afraid to ask."

"Okay, but I got this one." He slowly crept towards the portal, wondering what monster it would turn into. The thought had no sooner crossed his mind, when the portal vanished and was replaced with a rather large and fierce looking monster. But something was different about this monster. It was surrounded by transparent green hexagons, like some kind of digital wall. He looked at it, baffled. "Uh Riu, I think I'll need a bit of help on this one."

"Thought you'd never ask." She said, unsheathing her blades. Riu charged at the monster, leaping up in the air to perform what was most likely to be another graceful kill. But to her dismay, the hexagons effortlessly parried the blow. "What…?" She checked it's HP, which read: 'LKIT:RSYU.' "What the hell is this, a glitch?"

"Look out Riu! I don't think this is a normal monster!" Though it was just a game, Tiro was terrified.

"I can see that Tiro! Just let me handle it!" She struck again, but to no avail. "Dammit, none of my attacks are working!" She leapt at the creature a third time. However, this time the monster counterattacked, sending her flying across the room. She slammed headfirst against the brick wall with a sickening 'thud'.

Tiro was horrified as he rushed to her side, propping her up. "Riu, are you okay?" A thin stream of blood ran down her forehead; she, or at least her character, was out cold. As the monster approached, he knew he wouldn't be able to take it on his own. He checked his items, but he didn't have any revives or resurrects. Tiro squeezed his eyes shut and pulled Riu close as the Volkswagen-sized monster brought its massive fist down…

…and nothing happened. He looked up. His staff! His staff was floating in mid-air, blocking the monster's attack. _How is this possible?_ The staff slammed into the monster, throwing it back into the opposite wall. Tiro sat there in amazement, hardly noticing his right arm being pulled up in front of him. He looked up at his arm. _What's going on?_ The staff was suspended directly in front of him, the hilt facing his arm. His body spasmed in pain as the staff pierced his hand, driving itself up the inside of his arm. _Am I supposed to feel this? Why does it hurt? _his mind screamed. His hand gripped the staff, now fully lodged in his arm. He groaned in agony as it pulled him up into the air as hot blood streamed down his arm. At the end of the staff, a transparent blue cylinder with four dagger-like rods protruding from the far end of it materialized from thin air. Tears ran down Tiro's face as a white-hot burning sensation ran from his toes, up his body, and into his right arm, as four beams of blue-green light shot out of the four rods towards the monster. They hit the creature, still slumped over in the small crater it made when it impacted the wall, with a deafening screech and vaporizing it with a blinding white light. The staff few out of his arm and fell to the ground with Tiro. The burning, the pain, all the sensations were gone, and his blood soaked arm was clean and free of damage. He was once again numb to The World. _What the hell just happened? Did…Did I just kill that thing?_ He checked the stats of his staff. It was now labeled, 'Sunday's Staff'. Who was Sunday? Why did he have her staff, and why did it cause him so much very real pain? Wasn't this just a game?

**((Aqua Capitol, Mac Anu))**

Riu woke up in a narrow back alley of Mac Anu. Tiro was standing over her, a nervous smile on his face. "About time you woke up."

She rubbed her forehead, "Tiro? What happened?"

"You were KO'd, and I had to finish off that monster for you."

"YOU WHAT?" She nearly screamed, shocked.

"Like I said, I defeated that monster. Oh, and I went ahead and got these for you." He held out two small swords to her.

"The steel blades? Uh…" She smiled at him. They were a side weapon, and she would rather use the weapon that she could level up, but the fact that he got them for her... "Thanks Tiro." She said, hugging him. He could smell her perfume, a light, flowery scent.

"Oh, well geez, uh, no problem." He stammered, blushing.

Riu rubbed her forehead, "I gotta go. I have the worst headache right now."

_I bet you do_ he thought. "Alright, well I guess ill see you later."

"Bye Tiro." She said, winking before she disappeared into the crowd on the main street.

Tiro stood alone in the alley, dumbfounded, as the smell of flowers lingered in the air.


	4. hackREJECTION

**.hack/DELETION**

A .hack fanfic by Timothy Meier 

**Story by Tim Meier and Matt Burrell**

Character Designs by Katy Robles Edited by Matt Burrell 

**Written by Tim Meier**

**Disclaimer: I do not own .hack, or any of it's characters, however, I do own this fanfic, so please don't steal it from me, thank you**

**Chapter Three**

**.hack/REJECTION**

Tiro was standing on the bridge, staring down at Mac Anu's main river. He had been thinking ever since Riu logged out yesterday, how he was going to explain how he took out that monster. He knew that the skill, or whatever he used, wasn't a normal skill. _Could that have been Data Demolish?_ He thought _it must've been_, He sighed to himself, as there was still so much he didn't know. What was he going to tell Riu? Should he make something up, or just spill his guts?

"You know, I should really get more WaveMasters on my team. Those Physical Tolerances can be a real pain in the ass."

He spun around to see who's voice that was, "Riu?"

She smiled, "What? I said I would be back." She walked over to the side and leaned on the rail next to him.

"Anyway, what's a 'physical tolerance'?"

"Well, basically, when normal attacks wont work on it, you would have to kill a monster with magic."

"Oh…I see." He was secretly relieved now that he didn't have to make anything up. She had unknowingly made up a good-enough excuse for him.

She smiled at him, "You good to go again?"

"Yeah, why? You find an interesting area?"

She laughed slightly, almost as if she were nervous. "Well, I wouldn't say that **I** found it."

"Huh? What do you mean?"

A man's voice spoke up behind them, "Hey Riu, are we going to go, or just wait here all day?"

Tiro turned around again to see an older BladeMaster towering over him. He was dressed in blue and green knight armor, had flaming red hair, cropped short, and red crescents on each cheek, with intense violet eyes. Riu smiled at him, but it seemed fake, like she was just doing it out of courtesy, "Hi Ace, sorry to keep you waiting."

"Yeah, it's okay." He said, obviously irritated.

"Who's he?" Tiro asked, somewhat intimidated.

"Oh, sorry. This is Ace, he's my uh…"

Ace cut her off, "Boyfriend."

Tiro nearly choked, "Boyfriend! What? Really?"

Ace's eyes flared, "Yeah, what's it to ya!"

"Ace calm down, I never told him I had a boyfriend."

"Okay…sorry." He grumbled, though he didn't really mean it, "So, are we going to go?" He didn't seem too happy that Tiro was tagging along.

"Yes, let's go." She smiled at him, but again, it seemed to only be out of good manners that she did this. Tiro knotted his eyebrows, _There's something she's not telling me_, he thought as he sighed, _might as well tag along_. The window came up, asking him if he wanted to join Riu's party. As he selected 'yes', he quickly checked Ace's stats, _Hmm, level four, two levels above me._

They started towards the Chaos Gate, but Riu gave off that vibe, like she was hiding something. Not only that, he wasn't comfortable with Ace. He acted like Tiro was constantly hitting on Riu or something. _Oh well…I might as well make the most of it._

Ace spoke the keywords, "Delta, Entwined Worst Frontline," and once again, Tiro's vision blurred as he was transported away from the root town.

**((Delta, Entwined Worst Frontline))**

Tiro nearly had a heart attack as he landed in the field. _What is this? Lava?_ The entire field was covered in it, volcanic lava as far as the eye can see, and yet, they were able to stand on it. _Thank god, I thought for a second that we were going to burn to death_. He sighed in relief.

"Let's go, we don't have all day." Ace still seemed irritated. Tiro felt that he had to speak up.

"If you're irritated, then I don't think I should be on this adventure with you." He didn't want to be the target of this guy's tension.

Ace was about to say something, but Riu spoke for him, "No, it's okay, it's no trouble at all." She smiled, but what was she hiding?

Ace sighed to himself as they started across the field. He was taking the paths that lead them away from any possible battles. _He must be in a real hurry_ Tiro thought to himself. They must have passed at least eleven portals. Tiro started to notice that he had trouble keeping up. He started running as fast as he could, but they were already in the cave. _CRAP!_ He ran into the cave after them, but they were already ahead. Tiro felt his temper slipping, _Well it seems Ace did a good job of getting rid of me_, he thought as ran into the cave.

**((Cave, B4))**

Tiro was exhausted. He had just been through 9 battles all by himself, easy battles, nothing more than Goblin WaveMasters and Possessed Long Arms, but still nine fights nevertheless. No matter, he still had to catch up with them. _They'll be looking for the Gott statue before they leave, so I think I'll head there,_ He thought, moving south into an 'L' shaped room with a portal in it. "Oh, wonderful," he sighed as it summoned 4 Goblin WaveMasters. _Too easy_. All he had to do was get them next to each other and use a water spell on them. As soon as they were lined up next to each other, he shouted, "Rue Kruz!" Tiro smiled as ice blocks converged on the monsters, killing all four of them. The door groaned open and he proceeded through, only to find himself at an Impass. There were 3 possible directions open to him: north, east, and south. He headed east. _What's this? The Gott statue! It's still here!_ He sighed in relief. He wasn't too late.

**((Cave, B4, Northern Room))**

"Ace, come on, we have to go look for Tiro!" Riu pleaded once again.

"Why? You can see his HP; he's doing fine. Besides, we don't need a WaveMaster."

Riu sighed, "Still, he might need us more than we need him."

Ace walked up behind her and wrapped his arms around her, "Then again, we do have this time alone, just the two of us."

She shoved him away, "This isn't the time Ace! You go do what you want, but I'm going to find Tiro!" She jogged towards the door, but it was blocked. "Damn, there's still one more portal left." She looked behind her; there it was at the back of the room. "Ace, help me take care of this."

He sighed, "Fine." The two of them approached the portal, it summoned a large monster, but strangely, its head was where it's hand should have been, and in the other hand was a large sword.

Riu lunged at the creature, but caused little damage. Then, in a lightening-fast move, it thrust it's sword straight through her abdomen. She looked over at Ace before her eyes rolled up in their sockets. The monster pulled the sword out of her torso and she crumpled to the ground, motionless. Ace finally boiled over as he charged at the creature, screaming at the top of his lungs with his sword raised high over his head.

**((Cave, B4, Gott Statue))**

Hearing the scream, Tiro bolted out of the Gott statue chamber. He had two choices from there: north, or south. His gut told him to go north, so he followed his instincts and headed into the north chamber. There! Across the hall in the chamber beyond, he could make out a monster fighting a player, which he guessed to be Ace. He ran as fast as he could into the room, where he saw Riu's body on the ground, lifeless. "Riu! What happened to her?"

"Just stay back and let me take care of this!" He said, taking another blow from the monster, "Heal me, dammit!"

Tiro nodded, holding up his staff in the air, he chanted, "Repth!" But he was too late. Before the casting could be completed, the monster had sent its sword through Ace's throat, killing him instantly. Tiro was now alone.

He had no idea what to do. Filled with fear, he tried using magic, not knowing if it would help. He held up his staff again, "Ani Don!" He watched as skulls dropped down on the target. The monster was able to block it with a barrier. _Huh? What's this?_ The monster started charging at him. _Wait a minute. Will my staff will save me again? I don't know if I can go through that again. That was the most painful experience of my life._ He swallowed his fear _Now's not the time to be worrying about pain._ He set his staff down in front of him, and set his arms to his side. But nothing happened. The monster approached him and plunged its sword through his chest. As everything went dark, he could see a dark red splotch spreading from his wound.

**GAME OVER**

Continue? Yes / No

The words flashed before his eyes. He was ashamed of himself. Everyone died because of his assumption…

**((Aqua Capitol, Mac Anu))**

The three of them landed in Mac Anu, somewhere near the center of town. Tiro looked over at the other two. Ace's face was as red as his hair, "Great job! We lost all of our treasure thanks to you!"

Tiro looked down in shame, "I'm sorry…"

"Sorry doesn't cut it you little bastard!"

Riu stepped into the conversation, "Ace calm down."

"And I can't believe you Riu! You've been standing up for him ever since you met him! You're standing up for a stupid little n00b bastard!"

Tiro couldn't take it any more, "I'm sorry!" He darted off towards the chaos gate.

Riu started to run after him, but Ace pulled her back, "Let him go, we won't have to put up with him anymore. Good rid…" He was interrupted by Riu's fist making hard contact with his jaw. His head snapped back, blood dribbling from his lip. He growled, "You're gonna regret that, you bitch." He drew his fist back and threw a jab at Riu's face with all his strength. But he never made contact. His fist was blocked by her small hand. She hardly seemed to be exerting herself. Then, in one quick move, she spun around behind him, twisting his arm and pinning it against his back.

"I'm so tired of your crap. If you ever go anywhere near Tiro again, I'll do a whole lot more to you than this." She whispered in his ear, "Oh yeah, I almost forgot: we're through." She kissed him on the cheek and flexed her wrist. There were several muffled popping noises as Ace's arm was shattered in three places. Tears welled in his eyes and his jaw hung open as Riu walked off towards the Chaos Gate. Some girl gave her a strange look. "Some guys just can't take rejection." Riu told the girl, a fellow TwinBlade, who gave her an understanding smile.

When she reached the Chaos Gate, she saw no sign of Tiro, just a girl standing there, panting. "Are you okay?" Riu asked.

Her green, glowing eyes stared back up at Riu. "Yes I'm fine." She was a Heavy Blade. With the exception of the samurai armor, she was a rather common looking blue-haired Heavy Blade.

"You didn't happen to see a WaveMaster wearing red going through the gate?"

"Um…Yes, he went through just a minute ago."

"Do you know where he went?"

The outburst startled her, "Yes, but only the last two keywords…"

"What are they?"

"Um….Forbidden, Holy Ground."

"Thank you!" Riu yelled over her shoulder. She would have to search through god knows how many areas for him. _Well, better get started,_ she thought as she walked up to the gate, "Bursting, Forbidden, Holy Ground." She silently cursed Ace as she disappeared through the Chaos Gate.

**((Hidden, Forbidden, Holy Ground))**

The words 'Pathetic WaveMaster' kept echoing in Tiro's head. _It was my fault…Ace was right…I am useless._ He sat back on the pew in the sanctum, listening to the choir in the background music. _This music…It's so calming…_ He sighed. _How am I ever going to apologize to Riu? Will she ever forgive me for failing her? I know Ace won't…_ He laid his head back, closing his eyes, finding solace in the music. He felt someone put their arms around him, cradling him, as if he were with someone he loved. He thought he was imagining it. He felt so comfortable, he felt at home.

"Hey…" Tiro's eyes jolted open, and he turned his head.

"…Riu?" He really wasn't expecting to see her so soon.

She sat next to him on the pew, "I had hoped to find you here. I searched all of Bursting, Forbidden, Holy Ground for you." She smiled.

He looked down, "…Why did you come?"

"…Why wouldn't I? You're my friend."

"After I failed you?" He closed his eyes and laid his head back again.

She leaned over, resting her head on his shoulder. "You didn't fail me, Ace was just being an asshole…it doesn't matter about him, I'm not seeing him anymore."

"Oh, I'm sorry…"

"Don't be. It wasn't your fault; I was going to break up with him anyway. I was hoping that I could change that by introducing him to you. Show him how a man should act, you know? Treat his girl like a person, not a possession." She laughed a little, "Boy that plan backfired, didn't it?

For the first time in hours, Tiro smiled. "Thanks Riu."

"Don't mention it." She yawned, already bored, "So, you want to get out of here?"

"Yeah, lets go." The two of them got up from the pew, and started walking out of the sanctum. Just as they were leaving, Tiro took one more look back, and caught a glimpse of something. _Huh? What was that? I could have sworn that I saw someone…_

"Tiro, you coming?"

"Yeah. Wait for me." The two of them then gated out to the town.

'_He has actually found his home…The one who carries my staff…Why does it have to be him, him of all people, that carry this burden?'_

**((Highland City, Dun Loireag))**

Ace didn't feel comfortable being here. Usually, you don't come here until you are at least level 15. But he was here on business. He walked over to the grunty farm, just as he was instructed. He saw a female Long Arm, leaning against a pillar, she looked at him, "The air up here is real thin."

He cleared his throat, "Thin enough to make a grunty's nose bleed."

"Okay, who's the target?"

"His name is Tiro, he's a WaveMaster, wearing red."

"I want 20,000 GP, 5,000 now, and another 15,000 upon completion. Those are my terms. Do you accept them? Yes or no."

"Yes, of course."

"Very well. He is in Delta Server right?"

"Yes, now remember, he may be with a Twin Blade, you are, under no circumstances, to hurt her!"

"If she's not on my Death List, she will not come to any harm."

Ace thought for a second, "On second thought, the TwinBlade is expendable."

The assassin nodded, making a mental note. _A jealous lover,_ she thought.

"What if you fail? Then what happens?"

The assassin smirked, "I never fail!"


	5. hackVENGENCE

**.hack/DELETION**

A .hack fanfic by Timothy Meier 

**Story by Tim Meier and Matt Burrell**

Character Designs by Katy Robles Edited by Matt Burrell 

**Written by Tim Meier**

**Disclaimer: I do not own .hack, or any of it's characters, however, I do own this fanfic, so please don't steal it from me, thank you**

**Chapter Four**

**.hack/VENGENCE**

_She's late!_ Tiro thought to himself. He had been waiting for an extra ten minutes for Riu, like usual. But still, he couldn't be happier. Riu was now his full-time partner in 'The World', and he was already at level 9 thanks to her. Of course she was level 11, but that didn't bother him; it just made her someone to look up to, like a big sister. He took a deep breath, and looked at the clear blue sky. It had been about one week since his ordeal with Ace, but that was behind him now. His mind started to wander as he listened to the flow of the river, and the conversations of others as they passed by. One in particular caught his attention:

"Hey, did you hear what happened to that hacker, Helba?"

"No dude, what happened?"

"Oh, man, she got arrested! It was, like, all over the news!"

"Arrested? How?"

"Well, they said that she was hacking into bank accounts and stealing money. She must've been real desperate man!"

"Whoa dude, that's crazy!"

_A hacker? Arrested?_ Tiro thought, _That's sad…She was probably just trying to make a living…_

He sighed and looked down at the river before hearing a familiar voice behind him, "Hey, sorry to keep you waiting."

He smiled, turning around, "It's okay Riu."

Riu smiled back at him, "Are you ready to go? Only six more levels to go before Theta Server."

"Alright! Where are we going today?" He was excited about their next adventure, as usual.

She thought for a second, "Today were going to Delta, Dreaming Solitary Judgment. It's a level 7 area, so it'll be a piece of cake."

"Okay, then let's go!"

She chuckled slightly, "You're in a good mood today."

When they arrived at the gate, there was a rather large crowd in the square (It was Saturday). As the two shoved their way through the throng of people, Riu ran straight into another player, nearly causing her to fall. She was a rather mature looking LongArm who really stood out with her short violet hair, her emerald green eyes, and a blue, scar-like symbol that ran up her left cheek. Her spear had something strange on it; a long red scarf was tied to the end of it, right below the blade. Like the spear itself, the scarf was worn and frayed, like there was a history behind it. She seemed to be searching the crowd from her vantage point.

Riu walked up to her, "Excuse me. Are you okay?"

She looked at Riu, her eyes like daggers. "What makes you think anything is wrong? I'm just waiting for someone!"

Riu was startled by her sudden outburst of anger, "Geez, sorry! Come on Tiro, let's go." And when they were out of earshot, she added, "Bitch."

He nodded, looking back at the long arm again. He could feel her glare through the crowd. _This doesn't feel right,_ he thought, _it's like she intended for us to run into her_. He walked to the chaos gate with Riu, hearing her speak the keywords.

"Delta, Dreamy Solitary Judgment." The two of them disappeared through the gate, not knowing what would await them.

**((Delta, Dreamy Solitary Judgment))**

After landing on the field, Tiro expected to see a giant cave or castle or something in the distance. But strangely, all he saw as they were running across the greenish desert was a giant alligator head. He paused for a second when he saw Riu approach it's mouth, "Hang on a second! Were not going in there, are we?"

"What do you think? This is the dungeon after all. It's just…the uh, dead monster type of dungeon…"

"Why didn't you tell me about these kind of dungeons?"

"You never asked…" Riu said, sliding down the monster's throat.

Tiro hesitated for a second, "Oh god, I'm going to regret this so much." Plugging his nose, he jumped in and slid down after her.

**((Delta, Dreamy Solitary Judgment, B3))**

He wasn't sure about Riu, but Tiro was positively miserable in this place. If it weren't for the fact that he was walking in disgusting old mucus, then it was the smell that was getting to him. Either way, he hated it in here. And on top of that, he had a really bad feeling that he couldn't shake since their encounter with the LongArm. He looked behind him as something caught his eye.

"Wait…Did you see that?"

She paused and looked at him, "What is it?"

"…I could have sworn that I just saw someone…"

"Are you sure? I haven't seen anyone ever since we got here."

He sighed, "This place must be getting to me."

"Yeah, let's just get the Gott Statue and get out of here." Riu led him west from the large square room, into the treasure room.

**((Delta, Dreamy Solitary Judgment, B4, Gott Statue))**

"Well this is great! All that trouble for a stupid pair of Mountain Boots! What a goddamn waste of time!" Riu was really upset about the item from the statue.

Tiro wasn't as upset about it. Actually, he was quite relieved, "Well, at least we can leave now."

Riu calmed down a bit, "You're right. Okay, use the Sprite Ocarina."

He raised his eyebrows in confusion, "…What do you mean?"

Riu's eyes widened, "You have them…right?"

"No…I thought you had them."

"When did I say that I would have them?"

"Before we came here. You said, 'I'll get the Sprite Ocarinas, then we'll meet at the bridge.' You said it yourself!"

"No! I said, 'Now get the Sprite Ocarinas.' You heard me wrong!"

Tiro had lost all hope of leaving anytime soon, "So what now?"

"Well, now I guess we have to walk out."

He sighed, afraid she would say that, "Wonderful."

The two of them walked out of the statue room, back into the L shaped corridor that they came through earlier. _What else can go wrong?_ His question was answered when suddenly, two projectiles pierced his right arm and left leg. Being pushed back against the wall, he saw a shaft lodged into his arm. It appeared to be an arrow, one had gone completely through his leg and now lay on the ground. He screamed in shock as blood gushed out of his wounds. Riu yanked his arm to pull him back behind the corner, out of their attacker's line of fire.

"Riu," he screamed, "What's going on?"

"Quiet!" she said in a stern, yet quiet tone. Holding him behind the corner, she spoke to find an answer to his question, "Whoever this is, knock it off! You had better get out of here!"

The female archer called her bluff, "I know that you are no match for me. Just let me have the WaveMaster and I'll leave you unharmed. If not, then I will have to deem you 'expendable'."

Riu clenched her teeth, "What do you want with him?"

"I have my reasons." She said, almost robotically.

Riu paused for a second, taking a deep breath. She knew that she might not be able to defend him, but drew her blades nonetheless. "You'll have to get through me first!" She jumped out from behind the corner, shocked at who she saw, "You…you followed us?"

She smirked, approaching her, "Like I said…I was waiting for someone."

"Stay back," Riu threatened, "I'm warning you!"

"I can see it in your eyes…you know that I must be at least level 25 to use arrows." She held out her spear, pointing it at Riu, "I don't want to use this on you, and I know that you wouldn't want that either. So just give me the WaveMaster and walk away."

Riu held her swords in front of her, praying for the strength to protect her friend, "Tiro is my friend, and I will die defending him if I have to!"

"That wont be necessary!" a powerful voice echoed through the corridor, from behind the assassin.

Without turning around, she said, "This is none of your business. Get lost!"

He spoke again, "Let the kids go Myin!"

As she turned around, her eyes opened wide. She saw a BladeMaster with long, charcoal colored hair. He was wearing a dark crimson red trench coat with black street clothes underneath, strange attire for a BladeMaster. She spoke again, the strength from her voice now gone, "How do you…know my name?"

He answered, his voice the same quiet-yet-powerful tone as before, "I know a lot about you. Your name is Myin, and you've been playing 'The World' for two years. You consider yourself an assassin; you kill other players for money. You are at level 35, mainly because you spend more time killing players than you do monsters, and that scarf on your spear belonged to someone very important to you…"

She couldn't take it anymore, "Enough! Who the hell are you anyway?"

"I am…" He paused for a second, "…nobody."

"Damn right you're nobody!" She dashed at him, thrusting her spear at his throat.

Riu would always remember what she saw next. In one graceful move that seemed to defy the very laws of physics, the charcoal-haired man spun on his heel, dodging Myin's attack, unsheathed his sword, a traditional-looking katana, flipped the blade around, and, with surprising force, brought the blunt end of the blade down on base of Myin's skull, knocking her out in one hit.

Riu just stood there, amazed at his skill. She slowly approached him, relieved that someone was actually there to help them. She spoke to him for the first time, "Aren't you going to finish her off?"

"No…but that would be quite poetic; the assassin being assassinated." He paused for a minute, before pulling something out of his item pouch, handing the so needed item to her, "Here, take this…"

She slowly took the Sprite Ocarina, "…Thank you…"

He stood, walking over to Tiro, examining him, "He's hurt pretty bad.." He walked unhurriedly over to Myin's collapsed form and dumped the contents of a small leather pouch, which was tied to her waist, on the ground. He rummaged through the small pile and, finding what he was looking for, returned to Tiro. "Here," he said putting a small bottle of Health Drink to Tiro's lips, "drink this." The WaveMaster gulped down the pale green fluid. "Okay now on the count of three, I'm going to pull out the arrow." He said gripping the arrow's shaft. "One, two…" he yanked hard, freeing the arrow from Tiro's shoulder. Tiro screamed at the top of his lungs. Strings of flesh dangled from the barbed arrowhead. "Health Drinks alone wont help him." He said, tossing the arrow aside, "We need to take him back to town to treat him."

She nodded slowly, not knowing what to say. She finally spoke, her voice barely coming out, "Where can we do that?"

Ghost finished his examination, feeling it safe to pick him up, "I have a place in Mac Anu, but if we don't get there soon, it might be too late."

All the voices Tiro could hear were beginning to slur together as the room faded to black.

**((Aqua Capitol, Mac Anu, Player Housing))**

The apartment door slid open as the charcoal haired man carried, more like dragged, Tiro in. Riu followed the two in and gazed around the apartment as she slid the door shut behind her. The place was so…barren wasn't really the word, but that's pretty much what it was. Most players used their hard-earned property as glorified shrines to themselves, coating the walls withal their awards, prizes, and so on. Not this place. No awards adorned the plain, hardwood walls, and it still had the basic, stock furniture, which consisted of a low, lacquered wooden table, tatami mats, and some blankets shoved against one wall, instead of the luxurious couches, plush easy-chairs, and exotic rugs that were all the rage nowadays. They say someone's personality is reflected in the way they live…

"Hey!" the charcoal haired man said, snapping Riu out of her daze. "Look after him for a second, will you?"

"Uh, yeah sure." Riu said, but he had already disappeared into the adjacent room. She knelt down beside Tiro and placed her hand on his forehead. He was drenched in sweat and his face was flushed, the leg wound having become infected.

"Hey Tiro." she said softly. It was no use though. Tiro had passed out again halfway between the Chaos Gate and the apartment. A clattering noise arose from the next room, reminding her of their savior. _Who is this guy?_ Riu thought, _and why did he save us?_

"Excuse me." The charcoal haired man said. Riu was apparently in his way.

"Hmm? Oh, I'm sorry!" she scooted back against a wall, trying to stay out of the way. He had removed his trench coat and was now wearing a black, sleeveless shirt. An intricate tattoo of an Asian dragon wound down his left shoulder, ending halfway dawn his forearm. For some reason, Riu figured he was very muscular, but now she saw that he looked more like a track runner than a bodybuilder. He knelt down beside Tiro, rolled up his pant leg, and inspected the torn flesh just above his kneecap. He then drew a bottle of clear liquid, labeled "Disinfectant" from a box of supplies he brought out from the other room. He uncorked the bottle and poured some of its contents onto the wound. The liquid made a hissing noise as it cleansed the infection from Tiro's system. Within seconds, his fever dropped back to normal. The charcoal haired man then took out a needle and thread and began to sew up the gaping hole in Tiro's leg. _Where are your manners?_ Riu thought, silently scolding herself.

"Excuse me Mr. uh…"

"It's Ghost." He said in a smooth voice that deceived his somewhat rugged appearance.

_What a generic name_ "Ghost, huh? Well um," she stammered "Thank you so much for your help but we don't have much money to pay you back with…"

"Don't worry about it." Ghost said. "It's nothing."

"Oh…" Awkwardsilenceawkwardsilenceawkwardsilence.

"So miss…"

"Riu."

"Yeah, so, what'd you do to get put on Myin's Death List?"

"Actually, she seemed to only be after Tiro."

"This guy, right?" Ghost said, pointing a bloody finger at the WaveMaster in question.

"Yeah, that's him."

"Alright, so what'd he do?"

Riu pondered this for a second, and then she started to look very angry "It was probably that worthless asshole, Ace." She said with more than a hint of contempt in her voice.

"Boyfriend?"

"Yes, er, no, well was…kinda."

"Kinda?" Tiro twitched in his sleep. Again. "God, I wish he'd stop doing that." Ghost said, pausing from his doctor-work.

"Yeah, we never actually met in the real world. But now that I look at it he was always kind of a dick."

"So Why'd you break up?"

"He thought I was cheating on him with Tiro."

"Were you?"

"No! Of course not! He was just possessive and insecure like that. I wound up having to break his arm."

"Hell hath no fury like a woman's scorn."

For some reason, Riu found that hilarious.

"So how'd you come across this guy?" Ghost asked, referring to Tiro.

"I don't know. We just sort of ran into each other." She started to laugh. "Actually, I caught him trying to talk to the Chaos Gate. It was hilarious. He had his arms out like this," she said, stretching her arms out. "and he said something like 'Take me to an easy field, Chaos Gate!'"

"Guess he never read the Player's Manual." Ghost smirked. "Leg's done." he said, taking out a roll of gauze and wrapping Tiro's leg up. Ghost then turned his attention to Tiro's shredded shoulder. He tried to remove Tiro's shirt, but the dried blood caused the shirt to stick to Tiro's chest. After several minutes of careful peeling, Ghost finally got the shirt off without reopening the wound. Myin's barbed arrow had done its job admirably, tearing open much of the shoulder and collarbone area. Ghost once again produced the bottle of disinfectant and went to work.

"So," Ghost said, trying to restart the stalled conversation, "where you from?"

"Huh?" Riu said, surprised that this guy could be so calm amidst such gore "Oh, um, Oregon"

"No kidding, I live in Oregon too. You near Bend?"

"Portland."

"Ah." he said, nodding "Never been there. I've only lived here for, like, a year and a half. Used to live in San Diego, though. Liked it a lot better there."

'A year and a half?' Riu thought, 'That was when…' "That was around the time of the HyperNet super-crash. I heard a lot of people left southern California after that."

"I had a much better reason to leave." Ghost murmured to nobody in particular. Upon hearing this, the pieces began to fall into place in her head. 'There's no way…'

"Are you…" she said weakly "the Angel?"

Ghost's hands froze in place. "If the Angel in particular is named Ireul, than yes. Or at least I was. I don't go by that name anymore."

'Oh my God,' Riu thought, 'I'm sitting in the same room as Ireul, The Angel of Terror. The greatest hacker of the 21st century.'

"My name is Ghost now." he said as if he could read her mind.

"You're the one who took down HyperNet!" Riu exclaimed. "You're a legend!" Ghost sighed. He had gained great fame within the hacker community with the destruction of HyperNet, considered to be the most secure and infallible computer network ever created.

"Two million. That's how much I was paid. Two million dollars to obliterate HyperNet. And you know what? I did a damn good job. HyperNet was decimated beyond repair. But my glory came at a cost. Do you know how many people worked for HyperNet?"

"…"

"One point five million. One million, five hundred thousand men and women. People with families and children to support. That was one point five million people unemployed within a one-month span. Do you have any idea what that can do to an economy? That's two million plus people living on unemployment and welfare checks." He paused "Suicide rates jumped 400 percent after that. And I can't help thinking that I was at least partially responsible; that I caused their pain and misery. It was then I realized that hacking wasn't this cool, stylish profession that everyone made it out to be. It's…never mind." Ghost turned back around and began working on Tiro's shoulder again.

'I never knew.' Riu thought. Within the past few years, people have romanticized hackers, like Al Pacino gangsters and John Wayne cowboys before that. Riu, like most other people, envisioned hackers as dashing outlaws, rebellious desperados living on the fringes of society, doing what they could to stick it to The Man. But now she saw just how skewed her view was.

"What did you do with the money?" Riu was almost afraid to ask.

"I gave it back. I gave all my ill-gained fortunes back to the people whose very lives I stole. Every cent I made hacking and making others miserable I gave back to the people. The only problem is, you…you cant buy back people's lives. That's why I chose to help you. That maybe, in some small way, I can atone for the things I've done wrong." Ghost finished applying the last layer of gauze in silence. "Done." Ghost said. Tiro's arm now lay in a makeshift sling. He drew a cloth from the box and wiped his hands off, turning the towel into a collage of crimson streaks. He then hefted up the unconscious WaveMaster and carried him into another room, more like an area sectioned off by screens, where he laid him on a heavy futon. Ghost returned to the main room, quietly sliding the paper screen shut behind him. Riu was still sitting on the floor, but she now held her hand in the air. Misinterpreting her gesture, Ghost took her hand, pulling her to her feet. Riu giggled at the ex-hacker's confusion. He obviously didn't understand the "international" sign for wanting to swap Flash Mail addresses.

"No, like this." She whispered, holding her hand, palm up, underneath his down turned hand. A faint glow emanated from the space between their hands as a small orb of light passed from Riu's palm to Ghost. For a second, she could see his list of friends' addresses. The list was empty.

"There." she said, "I gave you both of our addresses. Now you can contact us anytime." And for the first time that day, Ghost smiled.

Tiro's eyes slowly slid open. Where was he? Dungeon, assassin, arrows, charcoal haired guy, Chaos Gate, Mac Anu…he couldn't remember anything after that. He tried to prop himself up, but he couldn't move his right arm. He looked down to find that it was in a sling. That explained a lot. He gazed around the room. Not much to look at, a whopping two walls, the futon which he was currently occupying, and two paper screens that were filtering in a soft light from another room. His neatly folded shirt was at the foot of the bed, the hole created by Myin's arrow sewn up and the once crimson blood stain scrubbed out to a light rusty color. He rolled out of bed, the thick bandage on his leg hindering his movement. He hobbled over to the foot of the bed, and with some difficulty, donned his shirt. He then limped out to the main room where he saw Riu wrapped up in a heavy blanket on the floor, asleep.

"She never logged out, you know." Tiro nearly jumped out of his skin. He spun around to find Ghost sitting cross-legged, propped up against the wall. "You've been out for almost eight hours."

Tiro scratched his head. "Really? What time is it?"

"About 2:30 A.M. Pacific Standard Time." Ghost yawned.

"Thank you for helping me, er, us, but I don't even know your na…"

"Ghost."

"Oh. What about Riu?"

"What about her? She refused to log out until you woke up, but I think she's asleep now. That's a real friend you have."

"Yes, she was very kind to me when I first started playing. Shouldn't you wake her up?"

"Actually, I thought it would be more fitting if you did the honor." Tiro made his way over to Riu and clumsily kneeled down.

"Hey Riu, wake up." He said, gently nudging her. Her eyes slowly opened, but instantly recognized the person who woke her up.

"Oh Tiro! Thank God you're okay!" She cried as she embraced him. Ghost smiled at their reunion. However, Riu saw what time it was and decided that they had to go.

"You sure you don't need help to the Chaos Gate?" Ghost asked, for Tiro was leaning rather heavily on Riu's shoulder, but they both politely declined. "Be sure to get to a hospital next time you log in. You don't want to become crippled, do you?" Then, almost as an afterthought, "Here, you're probably going to need this." Ghost said, tossing Tiro his jewel studded cap and WaveMaster staff.

"You two can use this place whenever you need it. The password for the door is :."

"?" Riu said "Isn't it spelled wrong?"

"No," Ghost smirked "I'll explain the story to you sometime."

"Thanks, we owe you one." Tiro said as the door slid shut. Ghost was once again alone in his apartment. He sighed.

"Hell of a day."

As the two slowly made their way down the hall, Riu whispered, "You won't believe who that guy really was."


End file.
